Various types of devices have been developed for implantation into the human body to provide various types of health-related therapies and/or monitoring. Examples of such devices, generally known as implantable medical devices (IMDs), include cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter/defibrillators, cardiomyostimulators, cardiac event monitors, various physiological stimulators including nerve, muscle, and deep brain stimulators, various types of physiological monitors, and drug delivery systems, just to name a few. Some IMDs include varying amounts of electronic memory that may be used to store not only device operating and control software, but to store various types of patient- and device-related data. In addition, some of these same IMDs may include signal processing and telemetry circuitry, which allows some or all of the data stored in the memory to be transmitted to a remote computer network or other communication node, and/or the device to receive and store data transmitted to it remotely from a computer network or other communication node.
In many cases, after an IMD has been implanted in a patient, the patient may need to have periodic follow-up visits with a doctor or other type of practitioner. Alternatively, or in addition to periodic follow-up visits, patients with IMDs may need to periodically initiate a communication with a doctor or other type of practitioner at a medical facility or clinic, or periodically initiate a remote communication, such as described above, between the IMD and a remote network or other communications node. These periodic visits and/or communications, allow doctors or other practitioners to check the IMD and patient to determine, for example, whether or not the IMD is operating as programmed or perhaps should be programmed differently. These periodic visits and/or communications also allow, among other things, doctors or other practitioners to analyze some or all of the data stored in and/or transmitted from the IMD. These data can provide the doctor or other practitioner with various types of physiological data about the patient, and may also be used to determine whether or not the IMD is functioning properly.
In many instances, the above-described remote monitoring occurs over the telephone infrastructure. In particular, a patient monitor device, which is located in the patient's home, may be connected to a telephone jack in the patient's home, and may include one or more monitor electrodes, and a monitor wand. The monitor electrodes may be used to sense certain physiological parameters associated with the patient. The monitor wand may include a radio frequency (RF) antenna to receive the above-mentioned patient- and device-related data that may be transmitted by the IMD. Periodically, a remote station operator will call the patient and instructs the patient to transfer certain data from the IMD to the patient monitor. The operator may additionally instruct the patient to attach one or more of the monitor electrodes. For example, if the IMD is an implantable pulse generator (IPG), the operator may instruct a patient to place surface electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes and the monitor wand on or near the chest cavity, where the IPG is located. When the electrodes and wand are properly positioned, the patient monitor receives various types of data from the patient and IPG, via the electrodes and the monitor wand, respectively. Such data may include surface ECG data, electrogram (EGM) data, physiological-related data, and various other device-specific data.
As was just noted, the data that is collected from the patient and IPG is transmitted to a remote monitoring station via a telephone line. Thus, only some of the data that is collected by the patient monitor may be transmitted in real-time to the remote monitoring station, while other data is first stored in the patient monitor, and is then transmitted from the patient monitor to a remote monitoring station. For example, surface ECG data may presently be transmitted over the telephone line in real-time; however, much of the data obtained from the implant real-time interrogation, namely device EGM data may not be transmitted in real-time.
The collection and transmission of such data in real-time would allow a remote operator to view the results of IMD interrogation while the patient and IMD are being monitored. This would allow the remote operator to remotely control the patient monitor in real-time while the patient and IMD are being monitored. This would additionally allow the remote operator to instruct the patient, in real-time, on procedural matters, such as proper placement of the wand and/or proper placement of the surface electrodes.
Hence, there is a need for a system and method that provides for real-time collection and transmission of implant-related data, and that provides for real-time transmission to, and display at, a remote monitoring site of the implant-related data simultaneously with surface ECG data. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.